Search - Earlimart :: Hymn and Her

Earlimart - Hymn and Her 7.5/10

Rudolph Klapper | Los Angeles / Orlando | 08/07/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Earlimart have been on an unusually rapid creative spree recently, churning out another finely wrought, meticulously produced album of gentle indie-pop less than a year after 2007's excellent Mentor Tormentor. Now only a simple duo with frontman and Elliott Smith-worshipper Aaron Espinoza joined by songstress Ariana Murray, Earlimart prove on Hymn and Her that as a couple they are still more than able enough to create a record bursting with fresh melodies and waves of tuneful sounds.



"Song For" starts off the album in the same vein as Mentor Tormentor's "Fakey Fake," an immediately grabbing drum pattern and a subtle guitar propelling Espinoza's wisp of a voice. Earlimart revel in slowly adding layer upon layer of sounds and musical ideas onto their songs, and "Song For" is a fantastic example of this technique. Ideas develop and branch out almost without being noticed, creating a tapestry of fine-tuned pop almost without the listener even noticing any abrupt change.



Delicate harmonizing and a few simple piano lines turn "Face Down in the Right Town" into an attractive slice of California pop, Espinoza and Murray's seemingly effortless vocal interplay a constant highlight. Murray even takes the lead on three songs, starting with the lovely "Before It Gets Better," and her voice is a soothing counterpoint to Espinoza's Elliott Smith whisper.



While Mentor and Tormentor's sonic landscapes were slowly carved over a period of years, Hymn and Her achieves the same effect with less than a year's worth of recording, and Espinoza's bag of sunny melodies is evidently a bottomless sack. From the memorable hook of "For The Birds," with its long-distance love lyrics and the dreamy guitar solo at the end to the chirruping birds and acoustic rhythm transforming into an urgent, electric crunch on "Cigarettes and Kerosene," Earlimart are in no way lacking for ideas.



The weak point of the record, as with many Earlimart releases, is the often-lackluster lyrical content. Many of the lyrics seem to be tossed off to coincide with the song's mood, simple word dressing to accompany the main attraction, in this case the intimate, layered music. At several points throughout Hymn and Her I would have been challenged to explain what Espinoza and Murray were getting at, and when I could, it was often not worth explaining, such as the alcoholic lament on "God Loves You The Best" or the schoolboy melancholy of "Teeth."



But the highlight of the record is, without doubt, the obvious audiophile love and care that went into the music and the intimate, fireside vibe Earlimart have painlessly produced. Guitars strum and bubble up from a tidal pool of carefully laid ambient noises, keyboards chime in on all the right places, and Espinoza and Murray's voices, which, while neither are ever going to be considered revolutionary or truly inspiring, are pleasantly in harmony with each other and the music around them. Earlimart are never going to be the band that breaks new and exciting musical ground with each release, but Hymn and Her proves that, just maybe, consistency isn't such a bad thing after all."

Getting stronger

John Michael Tibas | SoCal | 07/03/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Earlimart have gotten stronger as their line up has gotten smaller. It was pretty quick between this album and the last but it is just as good if not better than the last. Still as beautiful with their melodys as ever the album has the added bonus of having a couple female fronted vocal tracks, something it dont think the band has had before. Highly recommended."

Hymns of rock

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 07/06/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Hymn and Her" has an appropriate title -- Earlimart has been whittled down to Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray.



Usually band lineups shrinking so far negatively affects a band's sound, especially if they manage to whip out two albums in a year. But if anything, their sound in their sixth full-length album "Hymn and Her" is gentler, smoother, and more polished in its music making. But most striking, it has a feeling of wistful intimacy, as if you're listening to a pair of battered lovers crooning together.



It opens with a sharp percussive beat, and Espinoza singing "Then I wanted to stop/take you back to the top/where the air is good and stars sing low..." Guitars and washes of keyboard slowly swamp over the drums, as he continues, "Took the long way/there's a doorway out loud...." That's the weakest song on the album.



Things grow softer in "Face Down in the Right Town," an intimate indiepop tune that swirls in on itself like a lullaby ("So you did what you thought was right/ooh, givin' up the fight/the only way that we knew was wrong/would be hangin' on and on"), and the shimmering piano-pop of "Before it Gets Better," which allows Murray's smooth vocals to take center stage.



They slip into a a string of mellow, melodious little indiepop songs -- spacey folk, shimmering epic pop melodies, harsher fuzzy-edged rock, piano-pop swirled into wobbling psychedelica, and the soaring experimental pain of "Great Heron Gates." But they stretch out into their eeriest territory with the last three songs: the transcendent build-up of the titular song, the gentle "Town Where You Belong," and the vaguely morbid fade-out of the finale.



Espinoza and Murray apparently are not a romantic couple. But evidently the band relationship between these two has much the same tone -- "Hymn and Her" is whittled down to the interactions between two people, and how they worry, comfort and support one another as the album winds on ("Baby, you need time for yourself/I'll give it to you/All the rest seems to logically follow...").



No wonder the lyrics have such a close, comfortable feeling, with Espinoza often voicing his doubts ("Are you there, Jesus?/You never know what you might find/They'll never know how hard you try... so wait a little longer this time"). His soft, smooth voice takes the lead most of the time, but Murray's girlish, slightly husky vocals take the counterpoint in a few of the songs, offering both comfort and realistic expectations ("We'll be on top of the moon/But till then it's a bloodbath...").



And though you don't notice it at first, the instrumentation has not dwindled with the band's size. It's never terribly catchy, but it's also more grounded than some of their past, ethereal work. The lean guitars and solid drums take center stage and there is some fuzzy bass in "Cigarettes and Kerosene" -- and that last song's rough texture somewhat disrupts the flow of the album. But they also weave in broad streams of synth -- which can shiver, twinkle, or shimmer -- as well as some truly exquisite organ which adds a solemn sound to certain songs.



As the finishing touch, especially in the second half, a piano gently ripples and stabs through the songs. And a violin adds bittersweet beauty to a couple of the songs near the end, especially the haunting "Tell Me." Maybe it's a portent of musical stylings to come, or maybe it's just a pretty addition.



The smaller size has not equalled smaller talent, and Earlimart is in fine form in their sixth full-length album. Beautifully mellow, doubtful and sweet -- and if they get what they deserve, then they'll be on top the moon soon with no bloodbath."